Neighborhood "Shave Ice Training" Weekend!

It's official . . . we have hired 20 employees, 3 shift managers, and one General Manager to run our shave ice store and this weekend we decided to do some quality training!  (my brother in law, Tony, created our logo.  He did such a great job!  We love it!!)

 We had each employee invite their own families to come and enjoy the shave ice treats they created (after 2 hours of verbal training :)  When we heard that many of the employees families weren't able to come, we quickly texted some neighbors and asked them to come down!  We needed pretend "customers" to serve!

 Poor little Hailey wanted to be a "worker" so badly.  She only has to wait about 10 more years . . .

 Here I am with some of our managers giving some instruction or listening to ideas (either way, Cassie looks shocked at what I am saying! ha ha)  Shiloh, the gal in the black shirt (far right) is our General Manager.  We had over 60 applications for her position and interviewed about 15 or so.  We even had Kohler and Kelsey sit in on the interview process so they could see what it takes to get a job.  All of us felt really good about Shiloh and we feel blessed to have her heading our team.  Cassie, Jake Hixon (far left) and Rebecca (not shown) are the other 3 managers and we feel confident in their abilities and personalities.  

 Here are some of the "minion" workers!  ha ha-----Nathan, Trevin, Wyatt, Keaton and Brandt.

 Kelsey and Breanne ----Kelsey can work in the store even though she is only 15 because she is the "owner's daughter" and that is allowed through the state.

More minions - - - Brandt and Natalie.

 Our house got "power-boxed" between midnight and 3 am the morning before our second training day which meant that some punk kids came and shut off 8 breakers to our home.  Our freezers were totally shut down and we lost a lot of our ice.  So, Tom had to go and buy a saw to cut some blocks of ice (that we had to purchase) into smaller blocks so they would fit on our shavers.  

 Because of the shortage of ice, we were making more "kid boogie boards" than the previous night.  (great rainbow Nathan!)

When Jake took his first bite of the night, he said, "Oh my gosh . . . I forgot how GOOD these things are!"  Then, he made a face that I asked him to recreate for a picture.  This is his "Oh My Gosh, I'm in Heaven" face!!

 Brandt sneaking in his first bite of white heaven ("kea lani!")

 Kohler is the only non-manager that is allowed to shave.  He had some training up in Utah with Tom and our cousins, Stef and Clint.  He is getting pretty good at shaving.  It really is an art!

 Here is Tom with some friends, Steve Beck and Scott Gillette.

 See the hibiscus flower clip in Kelsey's hair (pink shirt)?  The girls are going to wear those or plumeria flower clips in their hair.  So Hawaiian!

 OK - so don't mind my crazy facial expressions in these next two pictures, but we decided to make a couple of "Long Boards" for a tall teenage kid and his dad.

 This was the first attempt of the night to make such a large order.  The first one turned out ok until . . . 

Poor Trevin got it and the kids before him had poured too much syrup and with the 105 degree weather, when he put on the snow cap, it all collapsed into his shirt!  This photo was taken right before it collapsed.  You can tell Trevin looks worried!  It was pretty funny and we all laughed---of course, we made the kid another one and it turned out great.  The heat was a bugger, though.  Our ice cream was melting, our syrups were warm, and it didn't make for the best products of the weekend---but still, the kids all learned a lot!!!

We are getting ready in every which way, shape, and form.  All we need is our stinkin' construction permit from the Town of Gilbert.  We have been waiting for over one month for that thing.  We are crossing our fingers for this week so we can get in there, remodel, and get this store open!!!